Am I Being Overcharged?

ispartacus75

Sounds like a stupid question but I will give you some details and see what you think.

I went to my local regular petrol station, one of the biggies so a nationwide (and international as it happens) chain.

The price on the forecourt was 85.9p per litre. I bought 15 litres. Not 15.1 or 15.01 litres but 15.00 litres, and it says so on the reciept.

Now by my maths 15 litres x 85.9p per litre = £12.88 1/2. As we dont have half pence pieces anymore I would have imagined that the petrol should have cost me £12.88 as they are not allowed to charge more than the advertised price. However I was charged 12.89, this means a charging of 1/2p over the advertised price.

Given that petrol stations deal in 10ths of a penny (how this can be legal I dont know since we cant pay them in 10ths of a penny) is it allowed for them to round up a bill to the nearest penny rather than round down?

I know this seems a bit silly given that its only 1/2p. But that is one days purchase for me. I will sometimes by 150 litres in a week. Over a year this means an overcharging of £2.50. These are companies that are making in excess of £10 billion per year.

So my question is 'do the petrol stations have a legal right to round up their prices?'

zacspeed_2

Interesting point.
One I'd take up with your local councils trading standards dept.
Trouble is, because of the vast amounts of tax these big boys put into the economy, I doubt if you'll get any joy.

geo555

You should of tried to squeeze a few more drops out of the nozzle. You would of got 15.01 litres for your £12.89, effectivly getting an extra .36 of a pennys worth of fuel.
A lot Esso garages now have a "take a penny, leave a penny" tray, so you can always get an extra pennys worth.

very_skint

Is this why on most pumps its states something like 'minimum delivery 2 litres'?

I know you can pump a minute amount, so is done so that 2 odd numbers make an even?
I.E 2 litres @ 89.5p = £1.79 (no half pences)

What would happen if you only pumped 1 litre? would they demand you put more in?

ispartacus75

In my original post I put

The price on the forecourt was 85.9p per litre

In a reply post 'very skint' put

I.E 2 litres @ 89.5p = £1.79 (no half pences)

Petrol stations will 'nearly always deal in .9 of a penny rather than .5 of a penny.

This means that you have to buy your fuel in multiples of 10 litres to make sure you are not being overcharged.

I personally think this is both rediculous and illegal.

I understand contract law and how it pertains to purchasing goods and services, and the 'Invitation To Treat' proviso. But if I have agreed to purchase fuel from them at the advertised price can they then raise the price at point of sale to suit their needs? Surely they would have to round down the price to a full penny rather than up.

By the way I went back to the same petrol station today, and as soon as the litre guage rolled from 14.99 litres to 15.00 litres the cost rolled from £12.88 to £12.89.

I think I am going to write to the petrol company concerned to see what they have to say on the matter. I just wanted to see if anyone on here knew if they had a special disspensation to round up as they charge in 10ths of a penny.

mr_fishbulb

In australia the petrol pumps show the price in 0.01 cents, but they don't have any coins smaller than 5 cents. So if you buy $5.02 worth of petrol you pay $5 and get the 2 cents free.

Maybe the international petrol company is recouping it's losses from australia

geo555

mr_fishbulb wrote:

In australia the petrol pumps show the price in 0.01 cents, but they don't have any coins smaller than 5 cents. So if you buy $5.02 worth of petrol you pay $5 and get the 2 cents free.

In Australia, they done away with 1 and 2 cent coins and use "rounding" to the nearest 5 cents. sometimes you gain a couple of cents, sometimes you lose.